Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2003 Mar;157(3):493-502.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00700.x.

Fusarium oxysporum and its biocontrol

D Fravel  1 , C Olivain  2 , C Alabouvette  2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Fusarium oxysporum and its biocontrol

D Fravel et al. New Phytol. 2003 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum is well represented among the rhizosphere microflora. While all strains exist saprophytically, some are well-known for inducing wilt or root rots on plants whereas others are considered as nonpathogenic. Several methods based on phenotypic and genetic traits have been developed to characterize F. oxysporum strains. Results showed the great diversity affecting the soil-borne populations of F. oxysporum. In suppressive soils, interactions between pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains result in the control of the disease. Therefore nonpathogenic strains are developed as biocontrol agents. The nonpathogenic F. oxysporum strains show several modes of action contributing to their biocontrol capacity. They are able to compete for nutrients in the soil, affecting the rate of chlamydospore germination of the pathogen. They can also compete for infection sites on the root, and can trigger plant defence reactions, inducing systemic resistance. These mechanisms are more or less important depending on the strain. The nonpathogenic F. oxysporum are easy to mass produce and formulate, but application conditions for biocontrol efficacy under field conditions have still to be determined.

Keywords: antagonism; competition; diversity; induced systemic resistance.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alabouvette C, Couteaudier Y. 1992. Biological control of Fusarium wilts with nonpathogenic Fusaria. In: Tjamos EC, Cook RJ, Papavizas GC, eds. Biological control of plant diseases. New York, USA: Plenum Press, 415 - 426.
    1. Alabouvette C, Lemanceau P, Steinberg C. 1993. Recent advances in biological control of fusarium wilts. Pesticide Sciences 37: 365 - 373.
    1. Armstrong GM, Armstrong JK. 1981. Formae speciales and races of Fusarium oxysporum causing wilt diseases. In: Nelson PE, Toussoun TA, Cook RJ, eds. Fusarium: disease, biology, and taxonomy. University Park, PA, USA: State University Press, 391 - 399.
    1. Assigbetse KB, Fernandez D, Dubois MP, Geiger JP. 1994. Differentiation of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum races on cotton by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Phytopathology 84: 622 - 626.
    1. Baayen RPO, Donnell K, Bonants PJM, Cigelnik E, Kroon LPNM, Roebroeck EJA, Waalwijk C. 2000. Gene genealogies and AFLP analyses in the Fusarium oxysporum complex identify monophyletic and nonmonophyletic formae speciales causing wilt and rot disease. Phytopathology 90: 891 - 900.

LinkOut - more resources